Cross-Country Storm Brings Snow, Ice, and Rain

Two storms that will combine its moisture will lead to widespread precipitation for the large majority of the country from Sunday into the start of next week. Right now, we’re watching a storm that has moved into the Northwest, dropping snow to the mountains and the intermountain West as well as rain to the lower elevations. It is this storm that will ride the jet stream over the Northern Tier of the US, bringing wintry weather to the North. There will also be a storm that develops along the Gulf Coast and takes a ride on the subtropical jet stream. These two storms will thankfully not come together and phase into a big winter storm for the East Coast, but its moisture will pair up leading to widespread nasty weather for the Central and Eastern US.

On Sunday, showers will break out across the Central Plains in the morning. Some of that moisture may move east enough to move into freezing air at the surface, so freezing rain may fall in portions of Missouri, southeastern Iowa, and west-central Illinois. Into the afternoon, the rain will expand, impacting eastern Kansas southward to northeast Texas and eastward to the Mississippi River. To the north, wintry weather, including light snow, a mix, and freezing rain are all possible in the Chicagoland area. This area spans from eastern Iowa through northern Indiana.

Then overnight Sunday, the rain will continue to expand and become more widespread. Rain will stretch from central Illinois southward to eastern Texas and eastward to Mississippi and western Tennessee. Meanwhile where the air is colder, freezing rain will changeover to snow in northern Illinois, extreme southern Wisconsin, northern Indiana, and in much of Michigan. As the night progresses, we’ll see several hours of freezing rain before that also turns into snow across Indiana as well as Ohio as the moisture moves east. Snow will also expand into Iowa and the interior Northeast early Monday morning while the rain creeps to the east across the South. Early Monday morning, there is the potential for freezing rain in and near the Southern Appalachians. This includes eastern and central Kentucky and Tennessee and northern Georgia. Even the Atlanta area may deal with freezing rain from early Monday morning, then ending by 10AM. Also western South Carolina and North Carolina may experience a brief period of light freezing rain. It all depends on if there will still be freezing temperatures at the surface as the moisture moves in. We think there’s the chance for freezing rain, but that threat isn’t too significant.

Where Freezing Rain Is Possible

Monday morning, rain will fall from Kentucky southward to Louisiana and eastward to Alabama. Indiana, Kentucky, and the northern Appalachians through northern New England will experience a light snow. Some freezing rain also remains a possibility and portions of Ohio and Kentucky. Then into the afternoon, most of the rain will clear out for areas west of the Appalachians. Meanwhile in the Northeast, a light snow is forecast for much of this region, including cities like New York and Philadelphia. Based on the timing, this snow is expected to fall in the evening and will be more of an overnight event. It will also be brief, so only up to an inch or two of snow will fall. Also throughout the day, some freezing rain is possible for the Mid-Atlantic. That includes Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C..

As we get into Monday night, there will just be some lingering precipitation in the Northeast with mainly a few snow showers across the Interior. With our southern storm, this one will actually stall as it approaches Florida, so on Tuesday into Wednesday, it looks to be wet for most of the Sunshine State. We’ll have the details on this rain early next week.

Jackson is Head of Content at WeatherOptics and produces several forecasts and manages all social media platforms. Previously, Jackson forecasted local weather for southwestern Connecticut, founding his website, Jackson's Weather, in the March of 2015. He is currently studying Meteorology and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Miami.